Such cutting machines are used in actual practice to cut slices of elongated food products. For safety reasons, the cutting blade has to be covered to such an extent that the risk of injury is reduced. For cleaning purposes, it is desirable for the covering device to be removable.
German patent application DE 30 13 469 A1 describes such a cutting machine with a removable blade cover. The blade cover is connected by means of fastening points to a blade protection ring and it can be removed after a lock is released.
When food having a large diameter is being cut, the problem arises that the food passes over the fastening points. On the one hand, this entails a great deal of soiling and, on the other hand, it yields a dirty contact surface and consequently poor cutting results with the cutting machine.